If you’ve paid attention to our coverage of Sundance this past weekend, you’re already well aware of the eclectic, often bizarre lineup of truly strange and imaginative immersive projects occupying it’s New Frontier program.

This includes Hypha, a surreal 17-minute journey that took me from the outer reaches of space to beneath the Earth’s surface. Developed by Maltrato Films, Hypha centers around the circle of life; how death is part of the natural order and an integral aspect of nature.

Slipping into an HTC Vive Pro headset, I began my adventure as a hypha, one of many filaments forming the mycelium of a fungus, living on the perimeter of a large asteroid gliding through the cosmos. Here I was accompanied by several other talkative spores, each of which chatting endlessly like a flock of seagulls. Suddenly, Earth’s gravity took hold of my temporary domicile and the asteroid began to accelerate towards the planet’s surface. 

Once on the ground, I found myself surrounded on all sides by forest-like area crippled by man-made contamination and various other harmful elements that had turned the environment around me toxic. Before I would really soak in my surrounds however, I steadily began sinking into the Earth directly below the base of a decaying tree. This is where things get even more interesting.

Below the forest surface, a network of hidden branches sprouting from the trunk of the decaying tree spread in all directions like a network of beings. The mood is grim; a voice representing the dying to tree tells me it’s too late, that nothing can save it now. Not all hope is lost, however. At this point, I begin racing throughout the intertwining roots, along the way using my Vive controllers to spread life-giving goodness. 

The experience culminated with me reemerging from the soil, this time as a magnificent mushroom fungus. Once I reached my max height, I began to physically shake back and forth, in the process spreading nutrient-rich spores throughout the area and returning life to a once doomed forest.

For more information on Hypha, visit here.

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